When the excitement of watching a player break through the defensive line into open space turns into seeing him lying motionless in centre field, even the most stoic rugby league fans find it hard to watch.
Tonight on NRL Daily, hosts John Gibbs and Brad Fittler once again enter the debate about the shoulder charge and its place in the game of rugby league.
As a strong advocate for changes to the current judicial system in regards to making contact with a players head, Brad Fittler also wants the players to take more responsibility for their own safety and the safety of the opposing team.
“The attacker needs to take responsibility as well,” says Fittler. “If you have the ball you have to be aware that there are 13 blokes out to smash you.
“In this situation, Dean Young took his eyes away from Greg Inglis and made himself an easy target.”
While not wanting to see players injured, John Gibb believes shoulder charges should not be banned in rugby league.
“The shoulder charge is a good part of the game”, says Gibbs.
“A lot of tackles are being labelled as shoulder charges. Frank Pritchard and Wade Graham, to name a few, they are regulation tackles in which the shoulder has connected with the head.”
Should shoulder charges be banned from rugby league? Let us know on Twitter where you stand @NRL_Daily.
Also on today’s show Fittler discusses the NSW Blues coaching job and talks through the selection process for the next coach if Ricky Stuart does not return next year.
Get all this and more in tonight's episode of NRL Daily, the only NRL show that's on every night of the week.
Stream it on the NRL.com homepage from 7:00pm tonight, watch it on the official NRL mobile site (Telstra customers only. Action Pack required. Click here for more details) or Telstra T-BOX. You can also watch the best NRL Daily videos on your iPhone with the official NRL iPhone App (Official Pass required. Click here for more details)
